Swimming trunks



y 1951 M. F. LASZLO 2,561,312 I SWIMMING TRUNKS Filed April 28, 1947 HTTOBNEV Patented July 17, 1951 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SWIMMING TRUNKS Margit Fellegi Laszlo, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Cole of California, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application April 28, 1947, Serial No. 744,446

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to garments commonly known as trunks, and particularly to such adapted for use by ladies in swimming, sun-bathing, and similar activities.

It is an object of this invention to provide a garment of this character having a novel and pleasing appearance.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a garment arranged to insure a firm, snug fit and adequate body control, at the same time insuring body comfort to the wearer.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a garment arranged to have fullness and drape over the pelvis and abdomen, thus softening the body lines in a pleasin manner.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a garment wherein the leg lines have adjustability to suit the individual figure of the wearer. I

" -"It is another object of this invention to provide such a garment having a relatively high front portion and a low back to form an upper line or edge between the waist line, sloping downwardly and rearwardly and so arranged as to insure adequate support for the front portion.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of the invention. For this purpose there is shown a form in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. This form will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing trunks incorporating the features of the invention in use as the lower garment of a two-piece bathing or sun-suit;

Figure 2 is a front view of the trunks of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the trunks; and

Figure 4 is a side view of the trunks.

Referring to the drawing, the garment generally indicated by the numeral 5 is formed of some fabric which has substantial elasticity in one direction but is stretch resistant in a direction transverse thereto, a suitable fabric of this character being commercially available under the trade name Lastex. Appropriately shaped pieces of such fabric are assembled in a novel manner so that the elasticity of the fabric insures a well fitting, attractive garment. Thus, the garment is arranged to encircle the midbody portion of the wearer in a resilient manner, resilience or freedom of the garment being restricted to limited areas of the garment and to certain body lines of the wearer. In this way, a comfortable well fitting garment is provided.

Referring to the drawing, the garment 5 comprises a front panel 6 formed of Lastex or other suitable material, so that it is elastic transversely of the wearers body, as indicated by the arrow 1, but resists stretching in a vertical direction.

Similarly, the fabric 8 formin the sides and back of the garment is transversely elastic, as indicated by the arrows 9, but resists stretching vertically. The sides and back are preferably formed in two pieces 8a and 8--b, joined along a seam If], and are connected to the panel 6 along a lower transverse seam'H. The opposite side edges of the front panel 6 are joined respectively to the front edges of the pieces 8--a and 8b by narrow elongated elements l2 and I3 adapted to extend substantially along the groin line of the wearer. These elements l2 and'l3 are longitudinally elastic, as indicated by the arrows l4, and also may be formed of Lastex.

The lower edges of the panel 6 and the fabric pieces 8-11 and 8b are so formed as to define the leg or thigh openings 15 and 16 when the garment is assembled. Since these edges extend generally in the direction of elasticity of the panel K5 and the fabric 8, the openings I 5 and IE5 resiliently resist enlargement and closely surround the wearers thighs or upper leg portions.

To provide for vertical elongation of the garment 5 in accordance with the elasticity of the elements I2 and I3, the fabric is gathered or I pleated as indicated at I! and H! where it is connected with the opposite edges of the respective elements. The fullness thus formed permits the elements l2 and 3 to stretch, as will be discussed more fully hereinafter. The shirring or pleating I! along the opposite edges of the panel e encompasses more of the fabric than the pleating [8 along the edges of the fabric ii. In this way, substantial fullness of the panel 6 is assured under maximum elongation of the elements l2 and 13 to provide the desired soft lines and drape.

As clearly shown in Figure 2, the pleating l1 terminates at a point substantially below the upper edge t--a of the panel 6. Thus, the upper 3 portion of the panel 6 is devoid of fullness and looseness, and thereby is tensioned across the abdomen in a manner to maintain the upper edge in the desired curved configuration.

The elasticity of the thigh openings l5 and I6 insures that these openings fit snugly about the wearers legs, the vertical elasticity of the garment along the groin lines previously mentioned urging these openings upwardly to adjust the leg length of the garment to suit the individual requirements of the wearers figure.

The upper edge 6a of the panel 6 is curved upwardly from the opposite edges of the panel, while the upper edge 8--c of the side and back fabric 8 curves or slopes downwardly to the small of the back. Thus, the upper edge of the garment 5 slopes downwardly from the front to the rear of the garment as clearly shown in Figure 4. Furthermore, the proportions of the garment are such that this sloping edge is below the wearers waist line.

I claim:

1. In a trunk garment: a body encircling means comprising, a front panel having a curved upper boundary and opposite side edges adapted to follow substantially the groin lines of the garment, said boundary curving upwardly between said edges, and a portion forming the back and sides of the garment and having an upper boundary extending downwardly from the upper extremities of said edges forming a waist accommodating opening sloping downwardly toward the rear, said portion having edges opposite the edges of said panel, said panel and said portion being transversely elastic and cooperating to provide thigh openings of resiliently restricted size, said edges of said panel and said portion extending respectively between said thigh openings and said waist accommodating opening; elastic elements joining respectively the said opposite edges of the panel and said back portion, pleats formed in said panel and ranging transversely from the side edges thereof over an area of the panel such as to avoid fullness in the upper part of the panel to inhibit stretching of said elements adjacent thereto, andv to provide fullness in the lower part of the panel to permit stretching of said elements adjacent thereto, the restricted size of said thigh openings being adapted to limit upward movement of the lower portion of the garment whereby said elastic elements urge the waist accom modating opening downwardly tensioning the upper portion of said panel over the abdomen.

2. In a trunk garment? a body encircling means comprising, a front panel having a curved upper boundary and opposite side edges'adapted to follow substantially the groin lines of the garment, said boundary curving upwardly between said edges, and a portion forming the back and sides of the garment and having an upper boundary extending downwardly from the upper extremities of said edges forming a waist accommodating opening sloping downwardly toward the rear, said portion having edges opposite the sides of said panel, said panel and said portion being transversely elastic and cooperating to provide thigh openings of resiliently restricted size, said edges extending respectively between said thigh openings and said waist accommodating opening; elastic elements joining respectively the said opposite edges of the panel and said portion, pleats formed in said panel where connected to said elements to provide fullness in the lower part of the panel to, permit stretching of said elements adjacent thereto, the restricted size of said thigh openings being adapted to limit upward movement of the lower portion of the garment, the length of said elastic elements being less than the distance between said thigh openings in their uppermost position when the garment is worn, and the wearers waist line, maintaining the waist accommodating opening below said Waist line.

MARGIT FEILEGI LASZLO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,926,911 Manny et al. Sept. 12, 1933 1,929,363 Long Oct. 3, 1933 2,232,950 Kneibler Feb. 25, 1941 2,323,713 Madden et a1 July 6, 1943 

